Portageville Needs More Noises

Friday, June 6, 2014

Scott Seal

That's right! Portageville needs more noise. A detailed discussion dealing with the needs of Portageville would be long and drawn out, but to state that "Portageville needs more noise" would cover the subject generally, but adequately.

The type of noise Portageville needs is quite obvious. A noise all people of this community would certainly welcome is the shrill blast of more factory whistles calling more people to work five or six days a week. It's a noise of progress this town needs. A noise of more footsteps passing through the doors of business houses, of cash registers ringing up more sale, of more hammers banging and saws grinding. There are noises of a normal, healthy; growing city and Portageville does not have enough of them.

But before such noises can be heard here, other noises must take place, which must awaken Portageville from an apparent bed of lethargy. It is paradoxical that a community can be in the depths of a near depression while being an integral part of a nation experiencing prosperity never before attained.

In reference to these more immediately needed noises, it should be understood that they are noises that most every citizen of Portageville can create if he so desires. By painting shabby buildings, repairing dilapidated property, cleaning trash from alleys, growing more flowers or planting more trees, these noises can be heard and the remarkable results of such activities might prove inconceivable. Portageville could be transformed from a so-so community to one in which anyone would be proud to live.

All this MUST take place in Portageville if the city is going to prosper. If another factory is our need, local citizens must realize that an industrialist is not going to invest thousands of dollars in a community where people are too unconcerned to invest a few dollars in their own property in order to better the city as a whole. If the citizenry will not take pride in this city, how can it expect anyone else to?

So, which is it going to be? Is the citizenry going to recline in contentment and mold away or will it arise from its seemingly endless slumber? It isn't the responsibility of any one person to create these badly needed noises; it's the responsibility of every one in general.

Every land owner has a responsibility to keep their own property neat and orderly. The City of Portageville should not have to apply costs to tax bills to clean the property. If you need help, just ask someone. With the economy like it is, surely someone will want to make an additional dollar or two.

The above editorial was written by the late Raymond Lloyd and published in the March 10, 1955 issue of the Portageville Review. Much of what he suggested back then can still apply today.

However, I would like to make one additional point, which he indirectly relates to, is our attitude. If we dawn a positive attitude, you will be surprised as to how much noises one can make.

Isn't it amazing what we can take from our past, apply it to the present and see the future prosper?